Our Team
Meet the Spiritual Life team: chat over chai, find community or resources, connect with people, get involved with programs that center on questions of spirituality and meaning, seek spiritual care.
Spiritual Life Team
Tauseef Akbar
Associate Director, Spiritual Life; Coordinator of Muslim Life
773.702.2484
takbar@uchicago.edu
As Coordinator of Muslim Life, I advise, facilitate, advocate for and support our vibrant Muslim community on campus. As chaplain I also offer spiritual care and counseling to the whole campus community. I joined Spiritual Life in the Fall of 2022, after serving as Chaplain of Muslim and Interfaith Life at Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges. If you have questions about Spiritual and Religious Life or regarding the Muslim community on campus don’t hesitate to reach out to me and/or set up an appointment. I also enjoy discussions around shared interests of religious studies, literature, history, creative writing, graffiti, travel and chess!
Jigna Shah
Senior Associate Dean of Rockefeller Chapel; Director of Spiritual Life
773.834.1885
jigna@uchicago.edu
As Associate Dean and Director of Spiritual Life, I oversee and manage support for religious and spiritual life on campus, including addressing the needs of students of particular traditions, facilitating understanding of and across traditions among other things. A native New Yorker commuting from Plainfield, IL–I joined UChicago in 2005 and the Rockefeller & Spiritual Life team in 2011. I love UChicago’s Shake Day tradition, chai, chats, board games and Netflix binges! Come see me for any of the above or anything else (even coffee!) (Pronouns: she/her).
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Spiritual Life Program Coordinator
- Favorite Spiritual Life Program:
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Spiritual Life Program Coordinator
- Favorite Spiritual Life Program:
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Spiritual Life Program Coordinator
- Favorite Spiritual Life Program:
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Spiritual Life Program Coordinator
- Favorite Spiritual Life Program:
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Meditation & Yoga Facilitator
- Favorite Spiritual Life Program:
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Sanchit Narayan Kumar
Yoga Facilitator
- Favorite Spiritual Life Program: Yoga and Meditation Offerings
- Coffee or Tea: Hot Chocolate!
- Hometown: Chennai, India
- Fun Fact: I enjoy wildlife photography — I have tracked and photographed 50+ tigers in the Indian Jungles.
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Yoga Facilitator
- Favorite Spiritual Life Program:
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Spiritual Life Program Coordinator
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Spiritual Life Liaisons
Spiritual Life recognizes individuals from particular traditions who serve the campus as a whole, and also works with campus partners from key offices.
Advisors, listed below, work with Spiritual Life and other campus partners to provide support for members of their own and other traditions. They may be clergy or representatives of non-profit organizations, or faculty or community partners who work with students of traditions where no professional advisor exists. Advisors sign and abide by the Ethical Framework for Religious and Spiritual Life.
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Student Wellness Liaison
773.834.XXXX
Spiritual Life Advisors
The Rev. Stacy Alan
Chaplain
salan@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Episcopal/Anglican
Brent House, Canterbury Club
Rabbi Yehudah Auerbach
Rabbi
jlicrabbi@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Orthodox Jewish
Yavneh of Hyde Park, Yavneh on Campus, JLIC
Saba Ayman–Nolley
Advisor
Bahá’í
Bahá’í Student Association
Rabbi Yossi Brackman
Rabbi
rabbi@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Jewish
Chabad
Reverend Angie Buchanan
Reverend
revangiebuchanan@uchicago.edu
Pagan Animist
Earth Traditions / University of Chicago Pagans
Rev. Eric Flood, DMin
Campus Staff Minister
eflood@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, Protestant
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Graduate Christian Fellowship
Rev. Taylor Franchuk
Pastor
Confidential Resource
Christian, Presbyterian
Living Hope Church
Jenn George
Advisor
jcgeorge@uchicago.edu
Jewish
Hillel
Chunchun (Nancy) Huang
Advisor
nancyhuang@uchicago.edu
International Student Fellowship
Christian, Southern Baptist, acts2 Network
Jacob D. Judd
Institute Director
jdjudd@uchicago.edu
Christian, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Latter-day Saint Student Association
Samuel N. Landon
Advisor
snlandon@uchicago.edu
Catholic
Calvert House
Rev. Dr. Woo Min Lee
lwm0408@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, United Methodist Church
Korean-American United Methodist Campus Ministry
Fr. Philip Maikkula
Priest
pmaikkula@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, Eastern Orthodox
Orthodox Christian Fellowship
Mary Manoah
Staff Advisor
Christian, Protestant
University Ministry of Christ Church Chicago
Moises Mendez
Campus staff
moisesm@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, Non-denominational
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Christians in Business at Booth and Graduate Christian Fellowship
Rev. David H. Messner
Sr. Minister
messner@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Unitarian Universalist
Unitarian Universalist Campus Ministry, First Unitarian Church
Bing Nieh
Pastor
bnieh@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, Protestant/Non-denominational
The University Ministry of Christ Church Chicago (UMC)
Charles Nolley
Advisor
cnolley@uchicago.edu
Bahá’í
Bahá’í Student Association
David Park
Campus Pastor
davidpark@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, Southern Baptist, SEND Network
Voyage College Church
Matthew Podszus
Director
mpodszus@uchicago.edu
Christian, Protestant
Poema, InterVarsity, Veritas Forum
Kevin J. Priest
Staff Advisor
Jewish
Hillel
Rabbi Mendel Rapoport
Rabbi
rabbimendel@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Jewish
JGrads Chabad at UChicago
Rabbi Anna Levin Rosen
Rabbi
alrosen@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Jewish
Hillel
Michael Schnabel, PhD
Buddhist Advisor
Facilitator for Chan/Zen Buddhism
mschnabel@uchicago.edu
Chan / Zen Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhistm
UChicago Buddhist Association, Wednesday Chan/Zen Meditation @Rockefeller Chapel
The Rev. Matthew Stuhlmuller
Campus Pastor
mstuhlmuller@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Christian, Lutheran (ELCA)
Lutheran Campus Ministry
Dr. You Wang
Advisor
wyshine@uchicago.edu
Confucianism
UChicago Confucian Commons
Reverend Andrew M Wawrzyn
Reverend/Chaplain
awawrzyn@uchicago.edu
Confidential Resource
Roman Catholic
Catholic Student Association Graduate Catholic Student Association
Miwa Yasui
Associate Professor
Faculty Advisor for AAIV
myasui@uchicago.edu
Christian
Asian American Intervarsity
Kirstin Yu
Advisor
EMAIL
Christian
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
Asian American InterVarsity
Lixin Zheng
Advisor
lixinzheng@uchicago.edu
Buddhism: Mahayana, Chan/Zen
Chan (Zen) Meditation
Āgama Reading Group